Haridwar.

The next day i.e Tuesday was sunny. But nature's fury had not let even an inch of the 300 kms long route unscathed . It is a monumental task to clear all those 100 's of kms of twisting mountainous roads with those handful of bulldozers and men. So swallowing our disappointment in not being able to have a darshan of Badri Narayan ,we turned back.My only consolation was that I had undertaken a padayatra of 6 -8 kms over rocks , raging streams and ankle deep mud to Purushotam Rama 's temple at the sangam of the rivers Alakananda and Bhagirathi . They flow as Ganga , there after.

As we neared Rishikesh I read the following board on the road side ,in one straight stretch of road where the Ganga runs somewhat parallel to for half a km or so ."Enjoy your drive along the marine drive".An Mumbaiker lyricist amongst the BRO ?

As we entered Haridwar I drew a sigh of relief . Back to the familiar straight lines of the plains I am so used to .Cycle rickshaws and horse carts [drawn by huge well fed horses], that have become museum pieces in and around Chennai are plying vigorously in here ! I saw them in some pockets of Delhi as well !Their presence proclaimed loudly that we are no more in the hills.

The people of Uttarakund often said " hum pahadi log yehipur kush hai .Magar Humbhe kabhi kabhi plains mey utharthe"---We, people of the hills are happy where we are .But at times even we descend down to the plains. One man who was held up at our transit camp the fauji dhabha , hailing from Srinagar , a town beyond Devaprayag , brightened on coming to know that I was from Chennai and fondly recalled that his son now a govt doctor had gone to coaching classess in a popular tutorial , which is actually near my house. A priest in a famous temple in Haridwar quizzed me about the distance Chennai was from Coimbatore , adding that his son was training in the CRPF training institute at Coimbatore. The Tamil nadu connection !

Groups of saffron clad men with kamandalams, long beards and long hair wound around their heads and wearing rudrakshas around their necks , wind their way up and down the streets .

The dip in the still raging ice cold waters in the morning with the sun shining above and its mild rays scattered like diamonds on the vast sheet of swirling waters , was spiritually uplifting .Nothing can compare with that moment .A feeling of light heartedness , that a life time of burdens and cares was dissolved, in an instant, in the waiting arms of motherGanges--Ganga maiyya.

On these very banks of Ganges in' Haridwar' which means 'gate way to god's abode' ,Sanat kumar, the eternal youth, the mind born son of Brahma had performed severe tapas and had attained great ascetic powers in ancient times!

Uttarakund ,the places I travelled through, seems to be at its inception of development. Probably that accounts for the lush greenery and thick forests. On the flip side education, employment and sanitation are at low levels. One very heartening fact is that there are no statues or busts of political leaders .Every intersection, in any place in Tamilnadu has either a bust or life size statues of political leaders like MGR,Ambedkar, Ghandhi, Nehru and so on as well as those of British viceroys!When I peered through the bus windows at the statues in Rishikesh and HAridwar at busy intersections , I was pleasantly surprised to see that they were of gods and religious symbols.My respect towards the deep spirituality of the people of Dev bhoomi as Uttrakund is also known as , increased by leaps and bounds.

The temples are not as splendid or numerous or ornately carved and decorated as those at Tamilnadu. But the gorgeous Ganga flowing near at hand , descending from pristine Gangotri glacier , carrying the fragrance of 100's of herbs in the path of her descent, the waters further sanctified by the pure thoughts of countless sages meditating on her banks at every point of time in our long history ,as well as the deep faith reposed in her generosity and bounty by millions of ordinary Bharatwasi's without a pause for 1000's of years , rivals and at times surpasses any other man made place of worship.

'Dev bhumi' viz 'Land of god's as people of Uttarakund ,fondly call their land , holds much water. A very sacred place indeed!